Play Ball
by LadyofSpain
Summary: Bella meets a Chicago Cub baseball player in for knee surgery at the hospital where she works. Once their eyes meet, it's a home run to her heart.


Disclaimer: _All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the__ property __of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

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><p><strong>Play Ball<strong>

**by Lady of Spain**

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><p>Ugh! The alarm went off at 4:45 as usual—another wonderful day at the hospital. I got ready, making sure my name tag was clipped to the front of my lab coat, and was out the door in a rush, and driving on the freeway. It was still dark outside, and it'd be dark when I headed home too. I felt like a vampire.<p>

In another twenty minutes I'd be swiping my badge and heading toward the secretary's desk to print off a copy of the patient census. Thank goodness the printer got fixed yesterday, so I had the papers in hand speedily and continued on to my office for report.

Same old, same old, except for … Apparently, the Chicago Cubs had their early spring training started, and one of their players had a knee injury and was awaiting surgery today. He'd gotten hit by ball going 90 miles an hour. Ooh, that's must've hurt.

I assigned the nurses their patients for the day, and listened as they complained and whined about it_._

_But I had the other group two days ago, why can't I have that same group? _

_Can I switch with somebody else, Mrs. Doheny's in that group, and I've had her off and on for the_ _last_ _week_. _Have_ _Mercy_!

Uh-oh, I just realized, where is Karen? "Has anybody seen Karen come in?"

A look of horror crossed their faces. Now what … would we be working short again? I picked up the phone and called Staffing.

"I'll pull a nurse from ortho," Wendy said.

Great—just what I needed, another disgruntled nurse working on our floor.

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><p>I was doing my rounds when Dolly asked, "Where's the bladder scanner? It's not in the clean utility room. I can't find it anywhere."<p>

"Oh crap, have Sandy call down to tele, they probably borrowed it again. _Why can't they ever bring it back when they're finished with it?_

I straightened my uniform, and pushed down the lever for the gel dispenser. The dispenser was empty. Dammit, I had to walk over to the next room for some. Rubbing it into my hands, I pasted on a smile, and walked into room 312.

Sauntering confidently into the room with my clipboard in my hand, I looked up only to have my mouth drop to the floor. I couldn't speak. Sitting up in the bed, was the Chicago Cub player. He had a shock of black hair, dark seductive eyes and an eye-blinding grin. The man was drop-dead gorgeous, and I mean … gorgeous. Now, I was really picky about what physical traits made a guy attractive, but there was no denying that this was a god in the bed before my eyes.

The flames of heat rushed over my face, and I choked out my introduction. "Hi, my names's Miss Swan. I'm the clinical nurse manager for this floor. I just have a few questions to ask if you don't mind. Is your room warm enough for you?"

"Yeah, but it seems to have warmed up substantially since _you_ walked in."

I cleared my throat. Was he flirting with me? "Um, Mr. Black, are you in any pain right now."

"Yeah."

"Is your nurse getting you some medication for it?" Glancing at his muscular torso, I thought, _gosh_ _it's_ _a_ _good_ _thing_ _we_ _don't give many IM injections_ _anymore_. _The_ _needle_ _would_ _probably_ _ricochet_ _right_ _off_ _his_ _rock_-_hard_ _deltoid_. _I'll_ _bet_ _his_ _rear_ _end_ _is tight enough to bounce a quarter off of it._ Oh my gosh, now I was thinking about his rear end.

"It's not gonna help my pain."

"I don't take your meaning."

"You've gotta know you're so beautiful, it hurts to look at you."

For the second time since I entered his room, the words wouldn't come off my tongue. I finally swallowed, and said, "I've got to see some other patients now. Glad to meet you, Mr. Black."

He nodded at me. "Hey, don't be so formal. It's Jacob."

I nearly tripped as I backed toward the sink to wash my hands. As I began to leave, he said, "Hey, Miss Swan, come back and see me after the surgery. I have some questions I'd like to ask _you_."

I stepped out of fantasy land and into the hallway. When Dolly came close, wheeling the precious bladder scanner, I frowned at her and scolded. "Why didn't you warn me about that guy? My gosh, he's so good looking, I was practically blinded. I could hardly get a word out either."

Dolly laughed as I fanned myself. "You should see how red your face is."

"Not funny," I muttered as I got as far away from his room as possible.

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><p>The word got around fast that Miss Swan was flustered by the ball player in room 312. At patient conference, even the docs were patting me on the back, saying, "Are you sure you're all right. You seem a little dizzy, there."<p>

"You guys …" I whined as the red in my cheeks deepened once again.

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><p>At 4:00 P.M. Jacob was back in his room, fully recovered, and ringing the desk. "I need to see the charge nurse," he said.<p>

With the knot growing ever bigger in my stomach, I trudged down the hall. I knocked on the door, and entered his room after the _c'mon_ _in_ sounded. He was talking on the phone. I was met with, "Aah, there she is. Hold on a minute, Embry."

Jacob put the receiver down on his bed. "Hey, Miss Swan, you got a first name?"

"It's Bella."

"I knew it, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Dolly said you were off every Wednesday, and coincidentally, Wednesday starts in the morning. So, Bella, would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?"

"I'm sorry, I don't date the patients."

He winked at me. "But tomorrow night I won't be a patient anymore. Whaddya say? I might need my bandages changed."

Floored … I was floored. I might regret my actions later, but right now, all I could say was, "Yes." When did I lose control of the nurse/patient relationship?

Gesturing to me to come closer with a crooked finger, he handed me a piece of paper. "Gotta have your number, so we can make arrangements, right?"

I scribbled my name, address and telephone number. He took the paper from my hands and wiggled his eyebrows. I'll call you tomorrow, Bella."

I walked out of the room in a daze, and overheard, "Em, guess what? I just made a date with a really cute nurse. I may be on the sidelines for awhile, but hot-damn, I popped the ball right outta the park this afternoon. Wish me luck, I don't wanna foul out."

Looked like I'd be in for some spring training myself. I'd better be on the ball, or at least be wearing my catcher's mitt—a really big catcher's mitt.

**The End**


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